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The Fix
"The Fix" is the eighteenth episode of Miami Vice's second season. The episode premiered on March 7, 1986. Summary Crockett and Tubbs investigate a judge they think has gone bad. Plot At a park, the Vice cops are waiting in a zoo on a dealer named Ortega to complete a drug transaction, but it's a rip-off. One of the dealers is shot dead and Tubbs kills the shooter. Meanwhile Switek and Zito locate the limo Ortega is in and find, much to their shock, that Ortega is a woman. Meanwhile, Ortega's lawyer, Benedict (Harvey Fierstein) tells Judge Roger Ferguson (Bill Russell) that Ortega was picked up by Vice earlier and she's worth a lot of money, then walks away. At Ortega's bond hearing, Ferguson sets her bond at $7,000 (an easy sum to raise) instead of the $2 million the prosecution requests. Crockett and Tubbs are stunned by this turn of events and immediately begin to suspect Ferguson has gone bad, especially after reviewing case information that Ferguson was the judge over and Tubbs speaking to Ebersole in Homicide, in each case either it fell into ROR or dismissed outright, to the point that they refer to Ferguson as "Let-em-run". Castillo agrees after hearing the results of the hearing as well as Tubbs' and Crockett's input, and sets up a meeting with Justice. Crockett can't understand how after Ferguson grew up in a bad neighborhood, got a basketball scholarship, became an All-Pro, raised a son who plays college basketball could possibly turn bad. Crockett and Tubbs speak to Ortega's gofer Berlioz (Paul Greco) who says that Benedict can get favors from Ferguson in exchange for cash. Crockett and Tubbs go check out Ferguson's son Matt (Bernard King), who plays for the Sunblazers. During the game, Judge Ferguson is approached by a man who takes him out of the building and onto a boat. It's revealed Judge Ferguson has an addiction to gambling, losing large sums of money at the horse and dog tracks, piled up a large debt and borrowed money from a racketeer named Pagone (Michael Richards) who demands that Ferguson pay him back by forcing his son to make the Sunblazers lose their playoff game, and gives him two days to make up his mind. Castillo gets authority to bug Benedict's office and to set up Berlioz to meet to confirm that Ferguson is on the take. Gina (disguised as a security guard) and Trudy (disguised as a phone repairman) go to Benedict's office and are able to plant the bugs before he returns. Beriloz goes to see Benedict to offer cash in exchange for taking him on as a client and see if he can get a favor from Ferguson. Judge Ferguson speaks to Matt about fixing the playoff game and Matt storms off in disgust at his father's request, then the judge almost drives his car into the ocean, saddled with guilt. Crockett and Tubbs picks up Pagone's goon Marco and use his information to get authority to bug Ferguson's home, then stop by to see Matt about his father, but he refuses to answer their questions. Benedict goes to see Ferguson (while Switek and Zito listen in) and asks for another favor for Berlioz, but Ferguson tells Benedict to get out, he's not going to do anymore favors. Matt offers to sit out the game rather than play poorly. Ferguson goes to see Pagone who says that Matt will play, and that sitting out is not an option. Crockett sits with Ferguson in an urban neighborhood and tells him that Benedict was arrested, and they talk about the judge's rise from rough surroundings to where he is now, the problems he's had, and how he could pull himself out by giving them Pagone. Ferguson refuses, saying he will get himself out of the problems he's in. Ferguson calls Matt before the game and tells him to play his heart out, that everything was worked out. Zito tells Crockett what Ferguson told Matt and that he was driving to the marina. Crockett heads there while Tubbs goes to the game to watch over Matt. When the judge gets to the marina, he pulls out a gun, boards Pagone's boat, shoots down Pagone, then after telling Crockett he finally broke even, takes his own life. Cast *Don Johnson as Metro-Dade Detective James "Sonny" Crockett *Philip Michael Thomas as Metro-Dade Detective Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs *Saundra Santiago as Metro-Dade Detective Gina Calabrese *Michael Talbott as Metro-Dade Detective Stan Switek *John Diehl as Metro-Dade Detective Larry Zito *Olivia Brown as Metro-Dade Detective Trudy Joplin *Edward James Olmos as Metro-Dade Lieutenant Martin "Marty" Castillo Guest Stars *Harvey Fierstein as Benedict *Paul Greco as Berlioz *Michael Richards as Pagone *Bernard King as Matt Ferguson *William F. Russell as Judge Roger Ferguson Co-Starring *Johnny Hernandez as Marco *Michael Fitzgerald as Big Thug *Richard Arquez as Teammate #1 Notes * Bill Russell was credited by his full name, William F. Russell, in this episode. * The University of Miami reinstated basketball at the school starting with the 1985-86 season after a 14 year hiatus. * Two years after this episode, Miami would have their own NBA team, the Heat, who as of the 2009-10 season, have won seven division titles and one NBA championship. The 2010-11 version of the team (with three NBA superstars LeBron James--who appeared in a shoe commercial with Don Johnson in his Sonny Crockett persona, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh) is referred to as "Miami Thrice". * Bernard King was a star NBA player for 16 years, playing with the New York Knicks at the time of this episode. * Michael Richards plays a rather ruthless character compared to his goofy persona of "Cosmo Kramer" in Seinfeld. * Considering Russell's tall stature, he seemed uncomfortable driving a compact Mercedes convertible. Music *"Gambler" by Madonna (Ferguson at track) *"p:Machinery" by Propaganda (Crockett and Tubbs watch Matt play basketball) *"The Water's Too Deep" by Jim Gilstrap (Ferguson on basketball court) Quotes *"Ortega was wearing that much ($5000) on her ears when we busted her!" -- Crockett during the bond hearing *''"He (Ferguson) practically gave Ortega a ticket to Bogota at the bond hearing!" -- Tubbs to Castillo'' *"What you've been doing is wrong, but it doesn't make you bad!" -- Crockett to Judge Ferguson *"I'm breaking even, Crockett, I'm finally breaking even!" -- Judge Ferguson to Crockett before committing suicide Category:Miami Vice Season 2 Episodes